There is always something that bothers us in life, whether it’s others or even our own consciousness. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator has a difficult time following through with his cruel act of killing an old man due to his “evil” eye. This occurs because a part of him knows it’s truly wrong, and his guilt was haunting him soon after. Throughout the story, his crimes bring more tension between him and the readers. Suspense is created by the narrator’s every move, leaving readers hanging on the edge of their seats. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe builds suspense by using symbolism, inner thinking, and revealing details to the reader that a character doesn’t know about.
To begin, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism in …show more content…
By using inner thinking, the narrator depicts how guilty he feels once committing the crime. For example, the short story states, “It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant … It grew louder, I say, louder every moment!” The narrator’s frightened feeling heightened, for he was inundated with the thought of being caught as a result of his crime. His thoughts on the beating of the heart show how serious he is taking the matter. Furthermore, the narrator’s inner thinking causes the reader to develop questions about the narrator and who he genuinely is. In the text, it states, “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.” This is one of many lines in the story that leaves the reader questioning what the narrator means by saying this and if it correlates with his crime. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of inner thinking throughout this story creates suspense because providing content on what the narrator is thinking and feeling gives clues as to what may happen to the old man or a result of the narrator’s crime. All in all, the narrator’s inner thinking is an immense factor of creating …show more content…
Using this technique offers further insight on the narrator’s plan, although the victim of the crime, the old man, never knew these plans. A section of the text states, “I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.” This piece of text first touches upon the narrator’s plan to kill the aged man, although it’s something that the innocent old man never knew was going to occur. Additionally, letting the reader know more information than a character can cause them to feel certain ways or have specific questions about the events that are occurring. For example, the text states, “I moved it slowly - very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed … And this I did for seven long nights …” While the elderly man had no clue of any of these actions happening, it makes the reader feel anxious and suspicious of what exactly the narrator was trying to do to him. By knowing more information than a character, the readers are able to gather emotions/feelings and have more information to anticipate other components of the story, which also can create a sense of suspense. Therefore, sharing more information to the readers than to a character can
To begin, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism in …show more content…
By using inner thinking, the narrator depicts how guilty he feels once committing the crime. For example, the short story states, “It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant … It grew louder, I say, louder every moment!” The narrator’s frightened feeling heightened, for he was inundated with the thought of being caught as a result of his crime. His thoughts on the beating of the heart show how serious he is taking the matter. Furthermore, the narrator’s inner thinking causes the reader to develop questions about the narrator and who he genuinely is. In the text, it states, “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.” This is one of many lines in the story that leaves the reader questioning what the narrator means by saying this and if it correlates with his crime. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of inner thinking throughout this story creates suspense because providing content on what the narrator is thinking and feeling gives clues as to what may happen to the old man or a result of the narrator’s crime. All in all, the narrator’s inner thinking is an immense factor of creating …show more content…
Using this technique offers further insight on the narrator’s plan, although the victim of the crime, the old man, never knew these plans. A section of the text states, “I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.” This piece of text first touches upon the narrator’s plan to kill the aged man, although it’s something that the innocent old man never knew was going to occur. Additionally, letting the reader know more information than a character can cause them to feel certain ways or have specific questions about the events that are occurring. For example, the text states, “I moved it slowly - very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed … And this I did for seven long nights …” While the elderly man had no clue of any of these actions happening, it makes the reader feel anxious and suspicious of what exactly the narrator was trying to do to him. By knowing more information than a character, the readers are able to gather emotions/feelings and have more information to anticipate other components of the story, which also can create a sense of suspense. Therefore, sharing more information to the readers than to a character can